This application relates to lawn sweepers, and more particularly to a power driven or tractor driven sweeper with a rear dumping hamper and a folding wind apron on the hamper.
Power-driven or PTO driven brush-type lawn sweepers with hampers for catching the lawn clippings have been proposed. In one commercial embodiment, the weight of the brush mechanism, the hamper and material therein is carried by a transverse roller located behind the brush. The hamper is arranged to dump forwardly into the limited space between the power-driven brush and the front edge of the hamper, with the result that the operator must afterward drive over the freshly dumped material to move on.
A ground-wheel powered brush-type lawn sweeper having a rear dumping hamper is shown in the U.S. Pat. of Ruhl 3,597,786 issued Aug. 10, 1971 and assigned to the same assignee as this application. While this sweeper was provided with a draw bar and hitch for attachment to the hitch pin of a lawn tractor, it was not power driven and therefor operated satisfactorily without a wind apron over the open-top hamper. The weight of the hamper and material in the hamper was carried on a pair of ground-engaging casters at the rear of the hamper support frame.
There exists a need for a brush-type PTO driven rear dumping lawn sweeper, in which the weight of the brush assembly and the hamper is carried on a transverse lawn roller. Such a unit is desirable for picking up heavy and/or wet clippings from behind the mower. The roller is desirable for "shading" or "striping" the lawn, for appearance.